FANTASM; New Doc On Horror Conventions Begins Production!

Now here’s a documentary subject I can get behind. If you’ve been following us here on Icons Of Fright since our conception in 2004, you’ll recall that one of the things we’d always do early on was cover horror conventions. (Check out some of those early convention reports right HERE!) Personally speaking, I starting attending the Fangoria Weekend Of Horror’s pretty much since I was around 13-14 years old, and have made it an annual tradition to hit up horror cons whenever I get the chance. When all of Icons was based on the East Coast, we’d make it a point to travel together and make the rounds at Chiller, Monstermania, New York Comic-Con and so on and so forth. The West Coast has got the wonderful Monsterpalooza which meets my annual thirst for the convention going experience nowadays. But this sound bring about some good memories. There’s a fan/filmmaker who is currently documenting the whole phenomenon. Here’s the press release:

Fantasm, a new documentary about horror conventions and the tight-knit community of fans who attend them, is currently in production under the direction of Kyle Kuchta.

Kyle Kuchta has a self-proclaimed obsession with horror films. Upon discovering the phenomenon of horror conventions, the young genre fanatic finally felt like a part of a community. He connected with like-minded individuals with whom he shares his love for the genre. Now he’s traveling to conventions all across America to find out why horror brings people together.

Fantasm began as aspiring filmmaker Kyle Kuchta’s thesis in pursuit of his film degree from Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. “I wanted to do a documentary on horror conventions,” he explains, “because I didn’t feel as if a lot of people knew about them or the loving community that they are a part of.”

The documentary was partially funded via Kickstarter. Further proving the enthusiastic support of the horror community, the project reached its goal in just eleven days. The 21-year-old Kuchta is currently working as a one-man film crew, serving as director, camera operator, interviewer and editor, among other duties.

Production will continue in March at the upcoming Monster-Mania in Cherry Hill, NJ and HorrorHound Weekend in Cincinnati, OH. Filming has previously taken place at such fan-favorite conventions as Monster-Mania (Hunt Valley, MD), Rock and Shock (Worcester, MA), Spooky Empire (Orlando, FL) and HorrorHound Weekend (Indianapolis, IL). The documentary is expected to be completed in May 2013.